Project description
When food waste becomes a resource
Europe throws away most of its mixed agri-food bio-waste. The agricultural sector needs to find a way to repurpose the 85 million tonnes of bio-waste that are currently burnt or buried each year. These waste streams are abundant in chemical value, but their contaminated nature has traditionally made industrial-scale recovery prohibitively expensive. The EU-funded MixMatters project aims to address this by deploying a modular, containerised system that uses robotics and AI to sort waste at the source. This successfully extracts high-value sugars, fibres, and bioactive compounds from previously unusable streams. By converting discarded material into industrial feedstock, MixMatters reduces emissions. It helps secure a sustainable, circular framework for Europe’s food and manufacturing sectors.
Objective
Mixed bio-waste generated along the agri-food value chain is an abundant resource, rich in valuable compounds e.g. polysaccharides or polyphenolic constituents. Yet, its potential as a source of recycled components is untapped - 75% of the generated bio-waste (approx. 85 M/y) is landfilled or incinerated, constituting 3% of total EU GHG emissions.
Valorisation of mixed bio-waste from the agri-food sector is hindered by (1) technological challenges of removing impurities (e.g. plastics, cardboard, or metals) that would otherwise decrease the process quality, (2) logistics challenges of collecting seasonal, geographically dispersed feedstock that lower valorisation cost-benefit.
MixMatters proposes an innovative system that efficiently separates and valorises three types of mixed bio-waste streams containing impurities from the agri-food industry (wholesale markets, greenhouses, food and drink industry) and obtains six high value-added outputs (powder ingredients, sugar concentrates, recombinant proteins, green fibres, bioactive compounds, plastic monomers).
The MixMatters system is modular and multi-purpose - able to treat a range of mixed bio-waste streams (ensuring feedstock supply). The separation stage is automated, integrating advanced robotics and AI. It is also containerised – separating the bio-waste at waste generation sites to avoid inefficient transportation of water and stream spoilage. The system functioning is optimised via a Decision Support while transparency + traceability are ensured via a Digital Product Passport.
In the project, the system will be demonstrated during 15 months at three waste generation sites, along with output validation with 6 bio-based industries and active involvement of value chain actors (partner networks outreach + 2,280 members) – to ensure result deployment. MixMatters will contribute to meeting the separation targets of the Waste Framework Directive (separated 6,240 t/y by one system at industrial scale).
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- natural sciences biological sciences biochemistry biomolecules proteins
- natural sciences biological sciences biochemistry biomolecules carbohydrates
- engineering and technology electrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineering electronic engineering robotics
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Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.2.6 - Food, Bioeconomy Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment
MAIN PROGRAMME
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HORIZON.2.6.6 - Bio-based Innovation Systems in the EU Bioeconomy
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Topic(s)
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Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-JU-IA - HORIZON JU Innovation Actions
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) HORIZON-JU-CBE-2022
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
46980 Paterna Valencia
Spain
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Participants (16)
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27711 OSTERHOLZ-SCHARMBECK
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2400 Mol
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02150 Espoo
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9820 Merelbeke
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30320 Fuente Alamo De Murcia
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26500 DE CALAHORRA LA RIOJA
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48160 DERIO BIZKAIA
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1180 Wien
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12004 CASTELLON DE LA PLANA
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46002 Valencia
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6041 Gosselies
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The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.
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46004 VALENCIA
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80122 NAPOLI
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28046 MADRID
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04120 ALMERIA
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2000 Maribor
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Partners (1)
Partner organisations contribute to the implementation of the action, but do not sign the Grant Agreement.
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E15 2HU LONDON
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The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.